Trip Report - Day 1 (July 30, 2011)
Posted: Wed Aug 17, 2011 12:39 pm
FIRST TRIP REPORT on VIOL!
This was our third trip to St. John in three years. Our first trip to STJ was our honeymoon, and we fell in love with it!
We've decided STJ will be an annual trip for us in August. (1. It's off-season, so less people, less costly, etc. 2. That's the best time for me to go because of my job. 3. I love being in STJ for my birthday!!)
Without further ado...
We wake up at 3am
to drive to Charleston, SC. The flight from Charleston to Charlotte was uneventful (luckily), as was the flight from Charlotte to STT, with the exception of sitting beside an alcohol-soaked passenger for the 3 hours down. No worries. I think I got a little tipsy on the flight down (osmosis), and the rum shot at the airport (pineapple!) just added to the fun. 
We did bring one checked bag, but the wait for the luggage wasn't horrible at all. Taxi'd to Red Hook with a couple staying on STT for their honeymoon, and a fun couple from Charlotte who were staying at Maho for a few days. Arrived at Red Hook, chugged 2 Caribs (1 for husband, 1 for me ) and boarded the 3pm ferry.
Arrived on the dock around 3:20, and I headed to St. John Spice to get my two weeks' worth of Kiss of the Jumbie! Husband waited for luggage to be unloaded.
We then walked to St. John Car Rental to retrieve our Jeep Wrangler. Easy peasy. Great folks to work with. We use them each year.
Afterwards, we went to the Lumberyard to pick up 8 gallons of water, which we refilled throughout our time there for 50 cents each (I believe). Best bargain ever.
The directions to where we were staying (Coqui Cottage) were a little difficult to interpret (I'm blonde...sigh), and we ended up going back into Cruz Bay to the owner's place of business to get better directions. Turns out, we were right the first time, but better safe than sorry.
Questions about the cottage? PM me.
After we brought in our stuff, we headed to Banana Deck for an early dinner. Our first conch fritters of the trip! Delish! We split an entree which was chicken with ham, cream cheese, rice, and broccoli. AMAZING, y'all. Oh, and the banana xango for dessert. Fried phyllo with cream filling with caramel drizzle. Can't beat it with a stick. Drinks = Funky Monkeys and Dirty Bananas.
We swung by the Marketplace to pick up creamer for my coffee, and a calling card. They gave us some cell phone refillable card written in SPANISH, which I didn't notice until we got home because I was so dog tired by this time. We exchanged it later - no problem.
Headed back to the cottage because we were EXHAUSTED from our 3am wake up call. Fell asleep at 8pm.
Heard rain at night for at LEAST an hour. POURING. Excellent!
End of Day 1.
This was our third trip to St. John in three years. Our first trip to STJ was our honeymoon, and we fell in love with it!
We've decided STJ will be an annual trip for us in August. (1. It's off-season, so less people, less costly, etc. 2. That's the best time for me to go because of my job. 3. I love being in STJ for my birthday!!)
Without further ado...
We wake up at 3am
to drive to Charleston, SC. The flight from Charleston to Charlotte was uneventful (luckily), as was the flight from Charlotte to STT, with the exception of sitting beside an alcohol-soaked passenger for the 3 hours down. No worries. I think I got a little tipsy on the flight down (osmosis), and the rum shot at the airport (pineapple!) just added to the fun. We did bring one checked bag, but the wait for the luggage wasn't horrible at all. Taxi'd to Red Hook with a couple staying on STT for their honeymoon, and a fun couple from Charlotte who were staying at Maho for a few days. Arrived at Red Hook, chugged 2 Caribs (1 for husband, 1 for me
) and boarded the 3pm ferry. Arrived on the dock around 3:20, and I headed to St. John Spice to get my two weeks' worth of Kiss of the Jumbie! Husband waited for luggage to be unloaded.
We then walked to St. John Car Rental to retrieve our Jeep Wrangler. Easy peasy. Great folks to work with. We use them each year.
Afterwards, we went to the Lumberyard to pick up 8 gallons of water, which we refilled throughout our time there for 50 cents each (I believe). Best bargain ever.
The directions to where we were staying (Coqui Cottage) were a little difficult to interpret (I'm blonde...sigh), and we ended up going back into Cruz Bay to the owner's place of business to get better directions. Turns out, we were right the first time, but better safe than sorry.
Questions about the cottage? PM me.
After we brought in our stuff, we headed to Banana Deck for an early dinner. Our first conch fritters of the trip! Delish! We split an entree which was chicken with ham, cream cheese, rice, and broccoli. AMAZING, y'all. Oh, and the banana xango for dessert. Fried phyllo with cream filling with caramel drizzle. Can't beat it with a stick. Drinks = Funky Monkeys and Dirty Bananas.
We swung by the Marketplace to pick up creamer for my coffee, and a calling card. They gave us some cell phone refillable card written in SPANISH, which I didn't notice until we got home because I was so dog tired by this time. We exchanged it later - no problem.
Headed back to the cottage because we were EXHAUSTED from our 3am wake up call. Fell asleep at 8pm.
Heard rain at night for at LEAST an hour. POURING. Excellent!
End of Day 1.